Amazing Worship & the Trip Home

Sunday morning we worshipped at the Living Faith Church pastored by Jeremy's cousin, Clive.  It is a church in a Colored community where they speak Afrikaans.  However, the service was given primarily in English…possibly for our benefit.  (I find it difficult to use the Black, Colored and White labels, but this is life in South Africa and unfortunately this is still their reality.

The service was AWESOME!  Jeremy, our guide and amazing man of God, was in the middle of it all. The singing was so passionate and people did not hold their joy in at all…it was pouring out and rising to the heavenly realm.  You just knew God and His angels were smiling.  After church we visited with members of the congregation.  People with beautiful spirits and smiles to match.  I wish we could have visited all day.  I would have never guessed that we had been there almost 3 hours!!!!

After our goodbyes we were off to the airport where we found a bathroom and changed from church clothes to travel clothes.  I don't know if I have ever changed so quickly.  After an emotional goodbye to Jeremy we were on the first leg of our approximately 21-hour return trip.   Now that were were actually on our way I couldn't get home fast enough!

After flying from Capetown to Johannesburg we encountered full force security screenings - first customs, then typical luggage and body scans, then pat downs, and going through each carry on.  Honestly, I have no trouble with the screenings as long we arrive safe and sound at our destination. We had a 1-hour layover in Dakar for refueling just like before, but this time security scoured the plane and we had to take all of our carry on luggage out of the overhead compartments.  It's interesting that coming into Africa the security is a little lax, but leaving to come back to the states in stringent.  I guess they are not overly concerned about our riffraff coming into their country.  I don't understand how people are supposed to sleep on planes in these very confining spaces. I wish I had photos of all the interesting sleep positions we all had.  I didn't sleep much so it may take me a little while to readjust here at home.  I did watch the Notebook as I've heard it is a great movie.  I thought it was okay, but the ending really got me.  I wonder how many people heard me softly sobbing and sniffing!  The nearly 4-hour flight from Washington to Denver seemed like it took forever!  I tried sleeping…didn't happen.  I tried to write thank you notes…I kept making mistakes.  I listened to music…that was good, but it just felt like time had slowed down to a painful crawl.